Benjamin Lesser of the New York Daily News reports today that Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) on November 17 amended his 2008 financial disclosure forms to show $3,500 in “gambling winnings.” This disclosure, late by two years, raises more questions than it answers. According to the Daily News:
The amendment does not say how Meeks won the money, where he was gambling or how much he bet. It merely says: “In 2008, I had gambling winnings of approximately $3,500.”
This is the second time that Meeks has amended his disclosure forms. In June, he reported that he was the recipient of an unsecured $40,000 personal loan from controversial businessman Edul Ahmad in 2007.
Why Meeks did not report the “gambling winnings” at the same time he disclosed the Ahmed loan is not known.
Meeks is reportedly the subject of a federal grand jury investigation. NLPC exposed Meeks’ involvement in a charity called New Direction Local Development Corporation, which raised money for Hurricane Katrina victims who never received it. Media coverage apparently triggered the probe.
On March 19, NLPC asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Meeks for paying $830,000 for a newly built home in 2006 that was worth more than $1.2 million.
In July, Meeks blamed “right-wing interest groups such as the National Legal and Policy Center and sensationalist media outlets” for his ethics problems.
It is known that Meeks likes to gamble. We have received reports placing Meeks in casinos in three different countries.